This article is a general introduction to independent media work, written as a catalogue essay for a travelling exhibition entitled Mobile Media: Films and Videos by Artists. The author discusses the wide range of festivals in which media work is screened, and intermedia approaches to production. According to the author, it is important that viewers approach these works in a very different way than commercial media production, in order to appreciate their ability to "explore alternative modes of representation, and to express ideas that dissent from general consensus."